/*
 * @(#) $Header$
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2007  Forklabs Daniel Léonard
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
 */

package ca.forklabs.media.jai;

import java.awt.image.RenderedImage;
import java.awt.image.renderable.RenderableImage;
import java.util.Collection;
import javax.media.jai.CollectionImage;

/**
 * Class {@code CollectionImageUtil} provides helpful methods that deals with
 * {@link CollectionImage}.
 *
 * @author   <a href="mailto:forklabs at gmail.com?subject=ca.forklabs.media.jai.CollectionImageUtil">Daniel Léonard</a>
 * @version $Revision$
 */
public class CollectionImageUtil {

//---------------------------
// Constructors
//---------------------------

   /**
    * Only allow subclasses.
    */
   protected CollectionImageUtil() {
   // nothing
      }


//---------------------------
// Class variables
//---------------------------

   /**
    * Transforms any collection into a {@link CollectionImage}. The content of
    * the collection should be all {@link RenderedImage}s or all
    * {@link RenderableImage}s.
    * @param   collection    the collection.
    * @return   the {@code CollectionImage}.
    */
   public static CollectionImage asCollectionImage(Collection<?> collection) {
      CollectionImage collection_image;
      if (collection instanceof CollectionImage) {
         collection_image = (CollectionImage) collection;
         }
      else {
         collection_image = new SimpleCollectionImage(collection);
         }
      return collection_image;
      }

   }
